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Do you ever see something in a novel that you know would be impossible, because the author was apparently unaware of a fact? Often these would be anachronisms in period novels. They run rampant through movies, but occur in novels as well.
Recently I found some in Paulette Jiles' wonderful book "Stormy Weather", which is an excellent read (I highly recommend it). but she didn't research her Texas bird life very well.
She referenced a flock of Cattle Egrets in a pasture following the cows, but this book took place in the Depression (1930s), and the Cattle Egret is an invasive species from Africa, that did not reach the US until 1941. She also mentioned Rosy Finches, but probably meant Purple Finch, since the Rosy Finch is a bird of mountain habitat, and is never seen in Texas. Also a reference to large flocks of White-wings, which is what Texans call the White-winged Dove, but that was very uncommon then in the Mineral Wells area, where she was at the time, and only in the past couple of decades did it begin to colonize central Texas in large numbers.
You have to suspend some disbelief to enjoy a fictional novel. There will always be something that is wrong or just plain wouldn't happen in the real world.
Yeah, but he's talking about the inclusion of facts that you could easily access and correctly incorporate. Not suspending disbelief in order to enjoy some plot twist.
Yeah...I don't know why the medicine is so many novels (or tv) is just so flat-out wrong. Even when it's not being used for dramatic effect.
You have to suspend some disbelief to enjoy a fictional novel. There will always be something that is wrong or just plain wouldn't happen in the real world.
I agree. unless the fact is very important to the plot and the fact that it's wrong somehow influences it, I try to look over it (though it does aggravate me at times).
Depending on the novel, I confess I may not catch factual errors - there's so much more that I don't know than I do know, ya know?
BUT, what really frosts me is getting a book out of the public library and finding that an earlier borrower of the book "corrected", in pen, any "mistakes" they may have found - factual, grammatical, etc.
I put "corrected" and "mistakes" in quotes because in several books, something that was originally correct was made incorrect!
Depending on the novel, I confess I may not catch factual errors - there's so much more that I don't know than I do know, ya know?
BUT, what really frosts me is getting a book out of the public library and finding that an earlier borrower of the book "corrected", in pen, any "mistakes" they may have found - factual, grammatical, etc.
I put "corrected" and "mistakes" in quotes because in several books, something that was originally correct was made incorrect!
Wouldn't it be worse if somebody penciled in "She's gonna die in chapter 13"?
Unless it's glaringly obvious and detracts from the work of literature overall, I guess I could care less about certain particular bits of information. Usually I just try to imagine the literature as images in my head and just go along with the story. Like I said, unless it's horrendously obvious then I just go along with the story.
Actually, it falls into the category with contrails and high power lines in the scenes in Revolutionary War pictures, or boom mikes visible in mirrors, or license plates with numbers not in accord with that state's number-letter mix. It amuses some people to detect them, and some not.
Birds in movies are notorious. The Foley editor takes his family on weekends to the southern California desert and hears Cactus Wrens everywhere, so he puts them into the soundtrack of movies that are set in the east. Or Africa.
Birds in movies are notorious. The Foley editor takes his family on weekends to the southern California desert and hears Cactus Wrens everywhere, so he puts them into the soundtrack of movies that are set in the east. Or Africa.
Yep. And it drives people like me nuts.
There's a blogger with the handle "Birdchick" and she nailed it on the head with her entry, [URL="http://www.birdchick.com/wp/2010/03/open-letter-to-david-frankel-red-hour-films/"]"Open Letter to David Frankel & Red Hour Films"[/URL] a few weeks ago.
Your original post had me nodding affirmative, too. I'm not as well-versed in birds and birding, but I do notice things and it's a distraction that shows a lack of conscientiousness on the writer's part and makes for a less pleasurable experience on mine as a reader.
I'm a health writer and I see such carelessness with the way certain diseases are treated in novels, too, particularly cancer and diabetes. It's sloppy, especially when it really doesn't take that much effort to research treatments or work with professionals in getting the facts straight.
Fortunately, I don't know enough about birds to notice something like that. If there is something really obvious though, yes, it bothers me. Like the comment "I could care less" in a historical novel about Joanna of Castile. You don't have to be an expert in any field to know that's just wrong.
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